


lean on me (when you’re not strong)

by BloodRaven55



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, DON'T READ IT UNTIL YOU'VE SEEN THE NEWEST EPISODE, F/F, Fluff, One Shot, Spoilers: Volume 7 (RWBY), Spoilers: v07e11: Gravity, Volume 7 (RWBY), and just a little bit of, at the end, but it's, this is mostly just
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:15:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22337659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodRaven55/pseuds/BloodRaven55
Summary: “Yang,” she said softly, waiting until she received eye contact to carry on speaking. “Do you want to talk about it?”Yang shifted her gaze back to the floor, her foot stilling for a beat as though she was considering, and then the anxious tapping continued. “It's fine. There's nothing to talk about.”“Yang,” Blake repeated, tone flatter and much firmer. “You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but please, don't pretend that you're okay when you're not.” She stood and took the few steps necessary to sit down next to her partner instead, leaving a few inches of room so as not to smother her. “It's okay if you're not okay.”
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Summer Rose & Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 24
Kudos: 264





	lean on me (when you’re not strong)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm all about the Bees as everyone knows and I also have so many Feelings™ about Summer after the last episode, so here is the result.
> 
> Lyrics in the title from Lean on Me by Bill Withers.

Blake leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees, staring at the floor of the cell that she was now sharing with her partner, feeling exhaustion settle into her bones as hopelessness began to sink in. Salem was coming, Ironwood had turned on them, Mantle had been sentenced to death, and there was nothing they could do to stop any of it when they were handcuffed behind bars.

She glanced up at where Yang was sitting across from her, watching her partner's foot tap rhythmically against the floor as Yang's leg jittered in a nervous tick. She hesitated for a moment, remembering her less than stellar track record when it came to comforting Yang, but she couldn't just sit there while her partner was struggling without at least trying to help.

“Yang,” she said softly, waiting until she received eye contact to carry on speaking. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Yang shifted her gaze back to the floor, her foot stilling for a beat as though she was considering, and then the anxious tapping continued. “It's fine. There's nothing to talk about.”

“Yang,” Blake repeated, tone flatter and much firmer. “You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but please, don't pretend that you're okay when you're not.” She stood and took the few steps necessary to sit down next to her partner instead, leaving a few inches of room so as not to smother her. “It's okay if you're not okay.”

Another few seconds passed in silence, and then Yang turned to look up at her, eyes welling with tears as her neutral expression crumbled. There was an instant where Blake froze, unsure of what she should do now that her partner had actually opened herself up and was clearly seeking reassurance. But her need to be there for Yang overruled her self-doubt, and in the end she simply opened her arms, offering the most basic form of comfort that she could think of to give.

Yang shifted into her embrace without any hesitation, wrapping her arms around Blake's waist and curling into her to bury her face in her neck. It felt almost unusual in a sense, for Yang to be the one needing Blake to take care of her, but she certainly wasn't going to complain given how many times her partner had been there for her already. If anything she was glad to know that Yang trusted her enough to lean on her this way, and it was tangible proof of their promise to protect each other.

She rested a hand on the small of Yang's back in return, a solid reminder of her presence, and she let the other move up to gently comb her fingers through her partner's hair, letting instinct guide her and hoping it wouldn't let her down. Blake breathed a sigh of relief when Yang relaxed into her, some of the tension draining from her muscles, and she pressed a kiss to the top of her partner's head, holding her a little tighter.

“The— All of those people in Mantle are g-going to die. And I h-hate confined spaces. A-And Salem— S-Salem killed my mum. And—”

Yang's voice was small and shaky, the experienced fighter stripped away to reveal the scared teenager underneath, and something fierce and protective sparked in Blake's chest. She rubbed slow circles on Yang's back, trying to make her tone as calm and soothing as possible. “Shh. It's alright. You can let go, sweetheart. I've got you.”

Yang cried for longer than Blake expected, but then again maybe it wasn't really so surprising. After all, she was all too aware that Yang often had difficulty making herself vulnerable. She wondered how long it had been since the last time her partner had let herself properly feel everything she'd been through, and the knowledge that the answer was probably _far too long ago_ was a leaden weight in the pit of her stomach.

Eventually Yang's shoulders stilled, her tears running dry at last, and Blake loosened her hold slightly, letting her partner pull back to wipe her eyes. “Sorry,” Yang murmured. “I didn't mean to fall apart like that.”

“There's nothing to be sorry for.” Blake shook her head. “Gods know you've done the same for me in the past. And you don't have to be strong all the time, Yang. You can be weak when you need to be— letting people help you sometimes is its own form of strength.”

“I know,” Yang said, sounding almost frustrated. Blake knew that it wasn't directed at her, though. “I'm trying to work on that, but it's— it's hard when I feel like nearly every time I let someone see beneath the surface they end up bailing.”

Blake swallowed hard, pushing down the wave of guilt that washed over her. “I know I've let you down before, but I'm not going to let it happen again. I'm here for you, Yang. Always. I can't imagine anything ever changing that.”

“I know.” Yang reached out to take Blake's hand, pausing before opening her mouth like she wanted to say something more. “Blake, I—”

They jerked apart at a sudden crash outside the cell, and they found Marrow gripping the bars of the cell with one hand, rolling his eyes as he started to mess with the electronic lock keeping the cell door shut. “Sorry to interrupt your little moment, but we need to go now if we want to help Mantle.”

* * *

“Yang, are you sure this is okay? I don't want to intrude on something private.”

“Of course it's okay. Blake, you're a permanent part of my life.” Yang held up her left hand, letting the golden band adorning her finger catch the sunlight. “See, I even have the ring to prove it. I want you to meet her— well, as close as you can come to meeting her anyway.”

“I wish I could have met her for real. But I'm really honoured that you'd include me in this.”

“Like I said, I wouldn't have it any other way.” Yang leaned across to press a soft kiss to Blake's cheek. “Now go and say hi, baby.”

Blake took a deep breath before stepping forward and approaching the grave. She knelt in front of it, careful not to disturb the flowers that had already been laid at the foot of the stone, and then she set her own offering of a single sunflower next to the red rose that Yang had brought before resting her palm on the sun-warmed marble, tracing the inscription almost absent-mindedly as she began to speak.

“Hey, Summer. So, uh, I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna. And I don't really know what I'm doing here, but I do know that you have an incredible daughter. Well, two incredible daughters— I only married one of them, though, thank the gods. And I'm going to shut up now before I say anything worse, but from what they’ve told me you sound like someone extraordinary, and so I guess I just want to say thank you. For everything that you did for them— everything you did for the world. I won't forget your sacrifice.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and as always any feedback that isn't non-constructive criticism is more than welcome! See y'all next time <3


End file.
